That's Not Love
by pinkturtle55
Summary: Emily and JJ become partners for a project on abuse, but for one of them this topic hits a little too close to home. Will she be able to confide in the other before it becomes too late? TeenFic. JJ/Em Slash. Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I came up with inspiration for this story over the weekend, and it would leave, so I wrote it :) I was a little worried about posting it (and you may have seen I posted it then took it off...) I rated it M, just to be safe, because it does have sexual abuse in it, but there is nothing graphic. If you don't like, don't read. **

**So like I said, I'm a little worried to be posting this and I would really like to hear what you guys all think about it. **

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

Emily Prentiss let her dark hair fall over her face as she stared at the test in front of her. Each word melted into the next, until it was impossible to make out anything it said. She closed her eyes and opened them again, trying to refocus. Right now she was running on two hours of sleep, and none of the hour awake had been spent on studying. Eventually she just circled A, B, C, and D in a random order hoping that maybe she wouldn't get another F. But what was the use? It was her junior year and she already had an F in one class, D's in three classes, and C's in the rest. All except English that is. She had a B+ in that class. Her mother had never bothered enough to look at her grades, but if she had she would have she would have seen Emily for what she truly was. A failure. To her mother English classes were useless; a waste of time. If she had her dream school all time would be spent teaching math and politics.

She took one last glance at her test, and shook her head. This was going to bump her C in Algebra 2 down to at least a D, if not lower, but really what did she care? She stood up and walked to the front of the room to turn it in. As she set it down on her teacher's desk she received a knowing look. It was one mixed of both disappointment and wonder. No one could ever quite figure out how the daughter of a diplomat had turned out to be such a failure, but Emily knew the answer to that. Years of practice. Her life had been a failure since it started and got worse with each passing year. When she got back to her seat she sat down and rested her head on her desk. She closed her eyes, but then they shot right back open. In that moment she remembered why sleeping hadn't been much of an option.

When the bell rang Emily leapt up from her seat and got out of the classroom as fast as she could. She hated the looks she always received. The one's people gave her to let her know they were better. That they were more worthy of living, but really that had never been much of a question.

After passing through the crowded halls she finally made it to her English room. This was the only hour of the day she ever found solace. She was the first person there and sat down in her seat. Ms. Young looked up from her desk where she was reading papers.

"Hello Emily." She smiled. "How was your weekend?"

"It was okay." Emily responded. What was the use in actually telling the truth? There was none. The truth held no weight in real life; her parents had shown her that.

Emily looked down at her desk and closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _Come on Emily, _she told herself, but the day had just heard footsteps as another student entered the room and she opened her eyes. There was no need to give people another excuse to call her a freak, they managed to do fine without her help.

"Hi Emily," A soft voice said.

Emily looked up from her desk and saw JJ pass by her on her way to her own desk. A flutter passed through her heart, but Emily pushed it down.

"Hi," She said quickly.

XXX

The rest of the school day went on like any other. Emily walked to her locker as the final bell rang. She kept her head down as she walked down the hall, but couldn't keep the sick feeling that kept rising in her at bay. She had gotten a call from her housekeeper during lunch. Her father was going to be coming home for a few days. Trying to take deep even breaths was pointless; it didn't change the fear that was deep inside of her. But she would never show it.

The housekeeper Delilah picked Emily up from school a few minutes later.

"You're father should be there by the time we get home." She smiled.

Emily let out a curt nod and pursed her lips together.

"Aren't you excited?" Delilah asked, "You haven't seen him for a few weeks."

"Oh, I'm just thrilled."

Delilah smiled not sensing the sarcasm in Emily's voice.

When they pulled into Emily's driveway she grabbed her backpack and put it on her back and reluctantly went inside. Immediately she walked upstairs and went straight into her bedroom. She pulled out her World History book without the slightest intentions of actually reading it. After she had stared at the page for what felt like only five minutes she heard her door squeak open. Before turning around she knew who it was.

"Hello Father," She said being sure to keep her voice neutral.

"Hello Emily. Why don't you come downstairs? Dinner should be ready soon." He set his large hand on her shoulder and didn't notice when she flinched away.

"I have a lot of homework."

"I think your teachers will understand." He told her. "I don't get to see you very often, and now I would like to spend time with you. So come downstairs." It was no longer a request.

Emily stood up stiffly and followed him downstairs. "Is mother home?"

"She had to fly to Hungry, they had an emergency regarding their stock markets, but I'll be home for at least the next few days."

Emily felt the breath leave her. This was probably the only reason her father had found the time to come home.

They sat across from each other at the dinner table. Mechanically Emily told him about her day, making most of it up. What felt like a lifetime later Delilah came with their dinner. She set two plates down in front of them; the rest of the dishes were already there.

After they finished eating Emily escaped back upstairs. She turned her music on and paced back and forth across her room. Fear had risen up in her chest and was starting to suffocate her. She turned off her light and knowing the inevitable she climbed into bed. If she did anything else it would only make things harder. After she got under her covers she laid there in silence. She stared wide eyes into the darkness. She laid there waiting.

XXX

And just as she knew he would, he came. He opened her door and let in a sliver of light, but then closed it again, closing out any chance of safety.  
>"I missed you precious," He whispered as he climbed into bed with her.<br>Emily squeezed her eyes shut and didn't let out a single word.

And when he was done he got up and left, but not before he leaned close to her and whispered into her ear, "Don't forget what I told you."

And she wouldn't. She never had. Her father was powerful, and she knew that what he said were not empty threats. He knew people. People that took care of things.

Silent tears streamed down her cheeks, but she made no noise.

**So there it is... Nothing will ever get any worse then the scene right above. I would really LOVE to hear what you think and whether or not to post the next chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the great response I got, because of that, here is chapter 2 :) Same warnings go for this one. Also I'd just like to say that the next chapter will have more of JJ in it. This one is still kind of setting up the scene. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and favoriting, you don't know how much it means!**

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

Emily had paid no attention in Algebra; there was no use in trying to raise her grade before the next trimester started. It was a lost cause like most else in her life.

Even sitting in English she didn't feel the same peace she usually did. Last night had taken over her mind. It made her so sick she wanted to vomit, but suddenly her attention was caught by JJ.

"So...?" JJ looked at her, awkwardly shifting foot to foot.

"What?" Emily looked around confused, but things slowly started to make sense as she saw people pair up.

"Ms. Young told us to pick partners for our project," JJ said.

"Oh," Emily said dumbly.

"Do you want to be mine?" JJ asked again.

Emily looked up thinking she must have heard that wrong. Usually she was the one left sitting there without a partner. The teacher would have to walk around to see if someone would let her join their groups. After the first few times when groups would say no, it was no longer an option. If you were asked, Emily was in your group. This only resulted in people hating her more than they already did, and trying not to be the group closest to the teacher.

And especially, just the way she felt when she was around JJ, it made her feel like even more of a freak. Who would want to be her partner?

"A-are you sure?" Emily criticized herself for stuttering.

"That's why I asked." JJ smiled and sat down in the empty seat next to her.

Emily let out a small smile in return.

"So I take it you didn't hear what the project was about?" JJ asked.

Emily looked down ashamed. "I- uh..."

"It's fine. It shouldn't be too hard. For the next week we are going to research, do a project on, and write a speech on a topic. The topic has to be a problem or controversy in society. She gave us examples like homelessness, obesity, and abortion." She explained.

"Not abortion," Emily said quickly, probably too quickly. But she didn't care, she wasn't going to stand in front of a bunch of students and either try to defend it or tell them it's the worst thing in the world, and whoever does it is going to hell. Not a chance.

"Okay," JJ nodded slowly, but gave Emily a quick glance. Truth was she didn't really know much about her. She knew her mother was a diplomat, and she also knew she had kind of become sort of an outcast. But most of all she knew that no one ever picked her for anything, and she knew, not by personal experience, how that felt.

"All we have to do today is choose a topic," JJ said, "Do you have any ideas?"

Emily shook her head. "Not a stupid topic. Nothing like, 'should we have year round school?'."

"I was thinking the same thing. There are much more important things than that. Hunger?"

"Too unoriginal," Emily said, "Women's rights?"

"And you thought hunger was unoriginal?" JJ laughed.

Emily cracked another smile.

"How about domestic abuse?" JJ added.

Emily paused, and scanned her brain for something else she could say, "Or suicide."

This time JJ froze.

Emily looked at the expression that crossed over JJ's face. "Domestic abuse is fine," She said reluctantly. Emily could tell something about that made JJ uncomfortable, and she would do anything to change that. She hated to see her like that.

"Okay," JJ nodded slowly not noticing the familiar uncomfortableness in her own partner. "Ms. Young wants us to look up our subject tonight and then we can discuss it more tomorrow."

Emily nodded, she was just glad JJ had asked to be her partner.

XXX

Immediately after school Emily went to her bedroom and turned on her laptop. It had been one of her 'we're leaving again' gifts from her parents. She googled domestic violence and wasn't even shocked at the number of links that came up. She clicked on a page of statistics. 1 in every 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime, almost one third of female homicides are from a family member, and as she read the next one her finger froze over the scroll button.

Almost 7.8 million women have been raped by an intimate partner.

She heard the squeaking of her door being opened and immediately closed the page.

"What are you doing here little lady?" Her father approached her.

"Just some homework," She said slowly, keeping her eyes off of him.

"Well, I think you can take a break from that." The sound of his voice made her stomach turn.

"I'm sorry, but I really need to do this." Emily continued to stare at her computer.

"I said," He put his hand around her arm and squeezed it hard, "I think we need to spend some time together." He pulled her up by the arm and then pulled her out of her room.

Emily stumbled next to him, and didn't try to pull out of his grip. Last time she tried she ended up with bruises that lasted for days. They walked down the stairs together and he brought her to the living room and sat her down on the couch.

"Tell me about your day Emily," He said and rested his hand on her knee.

"It... was... good..." She blinked her eyes slowly.

"What did you do?" His smiled spread.

"I... We are learning about the Europe in world history." She said trying to forget about where his hand was.

XXX

That night he came back into her room.

After what felt like a lifetime he finally left. Once Emily heard him walk into his bedroom and close the door she let the tears loose. Sobs racked her body and she pulled herself into the fetal position. She felt her stomach turn and ran into the bathroom just in time to vomit into the toilet.

She collapsed onto the ground. She felt dirty.

Finally she dragged herself up and got in the shower. She tried to rinse the feeling off of her, but couldn't. No matter how long she stood under the steaming water and no matter how much soap she used, Emily felt the same. She felt like the same dirty, worthless, piece of trash she had become when she was eight.

**Don't forget to leave a review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you again for the great response to my last chapter! Sorry it took long to post this one, I couldn't find it and almost had a heart attack thinking I would have to re- write it, but all is good now :) **

**Hey guess what? Huh? What's that? Oh yeah... You should leave a review! **

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

"Can you get together after school?" JJ asked Emily as she looked at how far they were already behind on their project on the first day of working.

"Yeah, I can. Where do you want to work on it? School?" Emily asked.

"My mom said you could come over to my house. I walk home every day, I only like a few blocks away."

"Okay." Emily agreed.

XXX

After school that day JJ found Emily and they walked to her house. Immediately they went up to her bedroom and dropped their backpacks on the ground. Emily pulled out her notebook and opened to a blank page.

JJ started to say something, but Emily was so lost in her beautiful blue eyes, that she didn't hear any of it. She couldn't believe that she was with JJ, that she had wanted to be partners. Quickly Emily shook her head and refocused. She couldn't be thinking like this. She would only get her heartbroken. Like she wasn't enough of an outcast, the next thing she needed to do was get caught staring at JJ.

"What do you think?" JJ asked.

"Oh, uh sure," Emily said, trying to pretend she had been paying attention.

JJ shook her head and laughed as her long blond hair swayed from side to side. "I just asked you if I should buy a penguin for my mom for her birthday."

Emily's face turned pink with embarrassment. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't really paying attention."

JJ smiled at her. Emily looked so cute when she was embarrassed. The way her cheeks turned to the color of roses, despite the fact that she tried to hide it. She couldn't believe that she had never noticed how beautiful and nice Emily was. She had always just followed the crowd. She listened to them when they said Emily was a freak, and she never took the time to see for herself, and now she wished she would have earlier. She wished she could keep the feeling Emily gave her forever.

"What do we want to focus on in our speech and project on?" Emily asked.

"I was just about to ask you that. Domestic abuse has such a wide range of topics. We could focus on either spousal abuse, or child abuse. There's also physical, mental, and sexual."

"We should talk about the effects of the abuse," Emily said quietly. "Like how it affects families, and the people abused."

"Okay," JJ said as she turned her computer on. She had gotten it last year after she begged her parents. She hated having to go down into the kitchen every time she had to look something up.

She started to look up the affects of abuse when a knock came on her door.

"Come in," She called, keeping her eyes glued on the computer screen.

"Hi JJ, how was school?" Her dad walked into the room. JJ swirled around in her chair so she was facing him.

"It was good. This is Emily," She introduced her. "She's my friends that I told you about." JJ gave Emily a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you Emily." Mr. Jareau put his hand out and Emily hesitantly took it. "We just ordered pizza for dinner, Emily you are welcome to stay if it's okay with your parents."

"I don't want to intrude," Emily said, truly praying that someone would disagree. She didn't want to spend another dinner with her father.

"You're not intruding," JJ said. "Emily will eat with us." She looked up to her dad.

"Sound great. I'll tell your mom to set one more place for dinner." He said and took a step closer to JJ.

Emily could feel herself tense up. Without even noticing it she balled her fists by her side. But then she realized all that Mr. Jareau was doing was hugging his daughter. She started picking at her nails. Not everyone's family is like your, she reminded herself as he left JJ's bedroom.

"Your parents won't care, will they?" JJ looked over to where Emily was standing and noticed that she looked uncomfortable. "Are you okay?"

Emily quickly nodded."I'm fine. And no, they won't care. My mom's not even home, some disaster in some country." She explained.

JJ turned back to the computer and looked at the WebPages that turned up. She read pages on physical abuse.

"We could have a big part of our topic on how to identify abuse. It says here that a lot of people that are victims of abuse don't always realize what is going on is different then what does in a functional relationship. Also we could help the kids in our class so they can identify abuse in people around them." JJ suggested.

"Sometimes it's not that easy. Some people are really good at hiding it."

"Why do they hide it?"

"Fear. Or they think they deserve it. There are a lot of reasons." Emily said sadly.

"But why? Could we somehow get people to understand it's not their fault, and that there are people that can protect them?" JJ asked confused.

"Like I said, it's not always that easy. Sometimes they think it's just better to let it continue then to try to stop it, because they don't know what would happen then." Emily explained bitterly.

JJ mulled over what Emily had said, and then slowly turned. "How do you know all that Em?" She whispered.

Emily froze. She had said too much. "I- uh… I read it somewhere last night."

JJ looked unconvinced, and kept her eyes on Emily who fidgeted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Can we just keep working?" Emily asked desperately.

The two of them continued to look up information on domestic abuse and started to put together the outline for their project, but every so often JJ would turn and look at Emily. Occasionally her dark eyes would cloud with anger, and other time's they would become moist, but most of the time they were just too damn hard to read. All JJ wanted to do was to take her hand, she wanted to hug her. She longed to be with her more, but she knew that Emily would never want to be more than just friends. But that didn't change the way she felt about her, and that didn't make it any less hard to hold her feelings in.

XXX

That night Emily lay in her bed awake long after her father had left. The only thing that could get her mind off of what had just happened was picturing JJ. Her beautiful tan skin and long blonde hair. The way her blue eyes lit up when she smiled, and her amazing smell of brown sugar. But most of all she loved the way she made her feel. JJ made her feel like she wasn't completely worthless. Finally there was someone who cared, and Emily loved her for that.

**I hope you enjoyed my story and it would be great to hear what you thought! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the problems if you tried to access this page earlier, for some reason it wasn't working, and I really hope it does now...**

**I want to thank you guys for the magnificent reviews, and I hope I can hear more about what you think of my story.**

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

JJ walked into English the next day and saw Emily. They had been instructed to immediately sit by their partners and start discussing their projects. She looked at Emily and felt that same feeling in her heart, but suddenly the feeling changed when Emily turned around. JJ's heart dropped when she saw her expression. Her eyes had dark circles under them- worse than usual- and she just looked plain worn out.

"Are you okay Emily?" JJ asked as she sat down next to her.

"I'm fine," She said and looked down at her desk.

She was obviously not fine, but JJ didn't push it. "I got the part of physical abuse done. Did you start working on your part?"

Emily shook her head. "I'm sorry. I had something... I needed... to do."

JJ locked her eyes on Emily. "Are you sure there isn't anything you want to talk about?"

Emily turned around and looked at JJ. "I said I was fine." The words came out harsher than she had intended them to.

"Okay!" Ms. Young stood in front of the group. "I hope you had a chance to discuss your project with your partner. Now we're going to go down to the computer lab and do more research."

All of the kids jumped up and walked to the computer lab hoping to sit by their friends. Emily and JJ were the last to leave the room and silence hung over them.

"I'm sorry JJ; I didn't mean anything by what I said. I'm just really tired, that's all." Emily finally said.

"Don't worry about it." JJ smiled.

The pair entered the computer lab and sat down in the only two empty seats. JJ immediately started to Google domestic violence, and Emily soon followed her. Many of the groups in the class were wasting time by chatting and going to various unrelated websites, but JJ and Emily were working.

JJ read some statistics about domestic abuse, and was astonished by the numbers. She had always taken her parents for granted. After her sister's death they had started being more distant, but they had never once hurt her, or even thought about it.

Emily clicked on the third website that came up when she googled abuse. It was a page for a helpline. She scrolled down the website. It talked about how most victims believed it was their fault, but it wasn't. There was a number for victims to call. Emily could feel her eyes mist over.

"Emily?" JJ asked with concern filling her voice.

Emily stood up, "I need to go," She said and quickly got up from her seat and left the room.

JJ watched her as she left and was dumbfounded.

"JJ, where did Emily go?" Ms. Young approached her.

JJ shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

XXX

Emily found herself pacing back and forth in the girls bathroom. She held her cell phone in one hand and couldn't keep her eyes off it.

She sat down and dialed the numbers she had seen on the screen and it rang twice before someone picked it up.

"This is Rachel from the abuse hot line. What can I help you with?" A high voice asked.

"Uh..." Emily tapped her foot. "I uh..."

"You can talk about anything you want here. This is an anonymous phone line."

"Okay-" Emily got cut off by the bathroom door opening. She quickly clicked end and set her phone back to her side. Emily was just about to get up when she saw who walked into the bathroom. It was JJ.

"Emily? Ms. Young wanted me to check on you." JJ walked closer to her.

"I don't need to be checked on," Emily mumbled.

"I know." JJ said and sat next to Emily on the ground. She looked over to her new friend.

Emily fumbled her phone in her hand and looked down.

"You can talk to me," JJ added softly. She could feel her heart pounding harder when she was around Emily.

She continued to look down. Emily just couldn't find herself to look at JJ. No matter what that website had said, it was her fault. Everything had always been her fault.

JJ stood up and put her hand out. "Come on, 2nd hours almost over. Let's skip. I've got a car and the people in the office love me."

Emily stared at her hand and reluctantly took it. It was as if her blood pressure rose just with her skin being in contact with JJ's.

XXX

Emily and JJ sat next to each other at Starbucks. They had both gotten drinks, and had found a pair of unoccupied chairs. A comfortable silence surrounded them, and they each took sips from their drinks. Finally JJ broke it.

"Tell me about yourself Emily. I don't know that much." JJ said.

"You mean you don't know much, other than the rumors that are spread around school about me?" Emily mocked.

JJ shrugged. "I want to know the truth, and I know what I hear isn't."

Emily sighed. She seemed genuine. "Well as you probably already know, my mother is a diplomat, and my father is a business man. I moved around a lot as a child, and before you say something, no, it wasn't fun. I hated it. My mother is rarely home and when my father is..." Emily trailed off and then started again. "I don't have any siblings, but I have a housekeeper. I live in a big house, but I hate every last inch of it. I've tried to run away before and would again in a heartbeat."

"What stops you?" JJ asked curious.

This time it was Emily's turn to shrug. "There's nowhere else for me to go. Chances are if I left the same thing would happen just by some man I don't know."

Immediately she knew she had said too much.

"What?" JJ's mouth stayed partially open.

"Nothing," Emily quickly mumbled.

"That wasn't nothing. What did you mean?" JJ asked more intensely this time.

"I meant nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"Well I don't give a damn whether or not you believe me." Emily stood up from her seat. She turned around and on the way out of the store she said over her shoulder. "Please JJ, just leave me alone."

XXX

But JJ couldn't forget about her. She couldn't forget about the way Emily made her feel; it was something she had never felt before. And she couldn't forget her amazing eyes, or her beautiful smile, when she dared show it. JJ tossed and turned all night thinking about their conversation. What was 'the same thing' that would happen? By some other man...

But deep down JJ knew something was wrong, but she was too afraid to admit it. Finally she decided she would just have to talk to her at school tomorrow.

XXX

After he left her bedroom that night Emily was tired. She was tired of keeping this secret for eight years, and she was tired of feeling responsible for everything he did to her. He was supposed to love her, and this sure as hell wasn't love. He was her dad... he was supposed to be there for her.

But most of all she was sick of living. She felt like dirt, and that's what she was.

Emily crouched in the corner of her room and pulled her knees to her chest. She held a bottle of pills in one hand and her cell phone in the other. The real question was which she would turn to.

**I hope you enjoyed :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long wait, I had a pretty hectic week. I had the chapter written, just no time to post it! I want to thank everyone who is supporting this story in their various ways, and you should know I appreciate it so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and what would be the best Christmas present? A review :)**

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

JJ walked into English the next day and saw that Emily wasn't there.  
>"Ms. Young, was Emily at school at all today?" JJ asked urgently.<br>She scanned her attendance chart and shook her head. "Her first hour teacher also marked her absent. You'll just need to work on the project alone and get together with her outside of school."  
>But that's not what JJ was worried about. She couldn't keep those last few words out of her mind.<br>JJ left the room and pulled out her cell phone ignoring whatever it was Ms. Young was saying to her.  
>Emily's cell phone went straight to voicemail and JJ's heart dropped. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she knew it was bad.<br>She turned to Ms. Young. "I forgot something at my locker. I need to go get it."  
>But instead, she went straight out the front doors and to her car.<br>XXX

Emily dialed the helpline again and listened as a woman name Victoria answered, but Emily said nothing. She looked at the bottle of pills in her other hand and contemplated her choices. She knew her dad could kill her. Whether it was with his own hands or not, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that she could no longer live like this.

Wouldn't it just be better for her to do it herself?

XXX

JJ knew the way to Emily's house. Ever since she was a little kid people would point out the house. It was the biggest one in the neighborhood, and now everyone was talking about how the 'precious little ambassador's daughter' lives there. Except their tones were filled with mocking jealousy. She pulled into the driveway to the huge house and ran outside. She rang the doorbell and it was opened by an older woman.

"Hello." She greeted.

"Hi. Is Emily there?" JJ asked quickly trying to look inside.

"Emily didn't feel well so she is upstairs resting. Is there something I can help you with?" Delilah asked.

"This is _really _important," JJ stressed, "Please, just let me in."

Delilah looked around and finally sighed. Emily never had friends around much, and it would be nice for her to see one. "She is upstairs, the door and the very end of the hallway."

JJ stepped inside the house and immediately understood Emily's hatred for it. There were no personal touches that would make it feel like a home. Instead it was cold and dark.

When she got to the door at the end of the hallway she hesitated before she turned the doorknob. She thought about knocking, but eventually just opened it slowly. The door squeaked as it opened and when JJ walked in she saw Emily tensed up in the corner of her room. JJ's eyes instantly went to the bottle of pills in her friends hands. She ran over and ripped them out of Emily's tight grip. The prescription was for Elizabeth Prentiss, and was for painkillers. JJ shook the bottle and felt relief flood her when she felt it was mostly full.

"Give those back to me!" Emily reached her hand out.

"No." JJ said sternly and quickly threw them out of the room.

Emily's eyes were red rimmed and tears were threatening to spill over. "JJ, give them back, and just leave! I don't want you here."

"I don't care." JJ looked at Emily. "I'm not leaving."

Emily got up and tried to leave the room, but JJ grabbed her. Emily struggled out of JJ's grip, but was unsuccessful. JJ pulled her into a tight hug, and eventually Emily crumbled in her friends grasp. Tears poured out of Emily's eyes and she gripped onto JJ as a final lifeline. Emily's knees went weak and JJ helped her to the ground. She was going to have her sit on the bed, but Emily refused.

"Emily…" JJ whispered, tears coming to her own eyes.

"I want to die!" Emily cried.

"No, Emily, don't say that, please don't say that." JJ pleaded.

"You don't understand," Emily whispered.

"Then make me understand. But what I know now is I can't let you die. I- when I…" JJ trailed off and looked over to her broken friend. She took a deep breath and searched for courage she knew she didn't posses. "Emily when I met you I felt something I have never felt before. If you don't feel the same way that's okay, but I need you to know. If you die you will be taking away the only person I think I have ever truly loved."

Tears spilled down Emily's cheeks as she turned to JJ. "What?"

"I- I get… I-" JJ stuttered. "I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I need you to know. When I was little my sister killed herself. I'll never understand why, but I know I can't let another person I love do that. Emily, I'm in love with you."

Emily couldn't help but widen her eyes. She was stuck on those words JJ had said. "You love me?"

JJ nodded slowly, she was waiting to be turned down. She was waiting for the hurt in those words she expected. She waited to hear, 'I never want to see you again', or, 'you sick person'. She thought she was ready for anything, but then the unexpected came.

She felt arms wrap around her neck and warm lips touch her cheek. Emily looked at her through tear filled eyes. She let out the smallest smile and whispered."I feel the same way."

JJ could feel a weight in her chest lift and felt her heart soar. She pulled Emily closer to her and pulled in the scent of her hair.

"Why?" JJ asked and she ran her fingers through Emily's silky hair.

Emily opened her mouth to answer when that familiar squeaking came again. Emily jumped up just in time for her father to walk in.

"What are you doing home?" She asked in a low voice.

He ignored the question and looked around. "I see you have a friend Emily." He smiled that same smile that made her sick to her stomach. He took a step closer to where JJ was sitting on the ground.

"Dad," Emily warned, but he continued to walk closer to her.

Before Emily knew what she was doing she had thrown her weight against her father and pushed him onto her bed.

"Run JJ, please run!" Emily shouted.

Suddenly JJ understood everything. She jumped up and giving one last glance to her friend she ran. But she didn't go far. JJ ran across the hall and into the bathroom.

With shaking hands she pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911.

"911 what's your emergency?" A man's voice asked.

"Please," She gasped. "He's going to hurt her, he has before, and I don't know what to do!"

"Ma'am please calm down. Where are you?"

JJ thought back to when she walked into the house and told him the address she had read on the house.

"We are sending someone now, but please stay on the phone with me."

"No." JJ hung up the phone and shoved it in her pocket, and ran back into Emily's bedroom. She saw her dad had pinned her to the bed now.

Emily looked over and her terrified eyes met JJ's. "I told you to leave," She gasped.

"Not a chance." JJ mouthed. She picked up the lamp from Emily's bedside table and gripped it tightly in her hand. Despite the fear that caused her body to shake, she took the lamp and smashed it on his head.

Mr. Prentiss turned around so he was facing JJ. There was shooting pain in his head, but it had not knocked him down.

"What a pretty little girl," He whispered. He pushed her to the ground and pinned her with one arm while he fended Emily off with the other.

"Get away from her!" Emily screamed, "You can have me, just get away from her!"

"Shut up," He hissed. With his free hand he pushed Emily down and she hit her head against the wood of her bed. Emily's vision became blurry and spotted, but she was determined to hold on. She couldn't let anything happen to JJ.

Mr. Prentiss held his hands tightly around JJ's small neck and got so close to her that his hot breath stung her cheeks. Slowly he was closing her airway making it harder and harder to breathe. In the distance she could hear sirens, but she didn't know if they would be there in time.

**I will try to get the next chapter posted before Christmas, but I'll have to see how busy I get :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello all! I didn't quite get this up before Christmas, but I hope you all had a great time during you holidays. I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter!  
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**I do not own Criminal Minds**

Emily hurt. She hurt everywhere. Where was she? Heaven? She almost laughed at that. More like Hell. She didn't want to open her eyes. Why would she? Eventually she would have to face whatever it was, but why not wait? At least here it was silent and peaceful. Maybe she would just stay like this forever. In the limbo between life and death, where there was nothing. It would be just her and the silence.

But then she smelled it; the brown sugar.

"JJ," She whispered hoarsely, keeping her eyes closed.

"I'm here."

Emily could feel soft fingers rubbing her hand. "I'm sorry," She said.

"Don't be." JJ moved her hands and brushed Emily's dark hair off her face.

Emily finally opened her eyes. She was in a hospital, but that's not what mattered. What mattered was that JJ was there. New tears filled her eyes as she saw the bruises on JJ's neck.

"Why aren't you in the hospital?" Emily asked thoroughly confused.

"I am," JJ laughed softly. "Right across the hall."

Emily nodded. She reached her hand up and gently brushed it against JJ's bruised skin.

"It's not as bad as it looks," JJ said softly taking Emily's hand off her neck and folding it in her own.

"I doubt that."

JJ shrugged. "Why didn't you tell me?" She finally asked.

"Tell you what?"

"About your dad."

Suddenly Emily shot up in bed; her eyes scanned the room frantically. Her heart started to race, but at the same time her body froze.

"It's okay Em." JJ soothed, holding Emily's hands tight.

"He's going to kill us." Emily's skin turned to ice.

"They arrested him."

"What do you think 'business man' means? He knows people JJ, he knows people who kill people, and they all owe him something. They're going to kill us." She tried to move out of the bed.

"There's an officer outside your door Emily. I'm the only person they're letting in. Oh and your mom when she gets home. You're safe, at least for now."

Emily pulled out of JJ's grip and put her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook and JJ gently wrapped her arms around her. She rubbed small circles on her back and waited for her to calm down.

"You know I love you right Em?" JJ had been waiting forever to say those words again, they felt so right.

Emily slowly lifted her face from her hands and nodded. She beckoned for JJ to come closer and when she did Emily placed a light kiss on her lips.

JJ jumped in surprise and Emily pulled back with a look of hurt spread across her face.

"No," JJ whispered. "That was good. I've never kissed anyone before; I just didn't know it would feel this good." Then she leaned over and pressed her lips against Emily's, wrapping her hands around her dark hair.

Emily returned by wrapping her arms around JJ's waist and pulling her in closer, so that she was leaning over the bed. When they tried to pull out of the kiss, an IV was wrapped around JJ's arm. It tugged from Emily's skin when JJ tried to move.

"I guess this is just telling me I'll have to stay like this forever." JJ laughed. She inched closer so that she was sitting on the edge of Emily's bed and turned to face her. She kissed Emily again.

When they pulled out for air JJ whispered into Emily's ear. "You're safe now. I won't ever let anything happen to you."

Emily felt a smile spread across her lips.

"I think that's the biggest I've ever seen you smile." JJ observed.

"That's because now I have something to smile about."

XXX

JJ and Emily stood in front of their English class. Emily couldn't stop herself from fidgeting, and having JJ next to her was the only thing keeping her from fleeing the room.

"Class," Ms. Young announced. "Emily and JJ will now be doing their speech. What is it on again girls?" She looked at the pair.

"It's on how to identify and get help in an abusive situation." JJ said clearly.

Ms. Young nodded. "You can begin whenever you're ready."

Emily took a deep, uneven breath and JJ gave her a reassuring nod.

"Sometime's abuse is hard to see from an outsider looking in and other time's it is even harder for the person on the inside. They feel that there is no way out, and many times they receive threats that are very easy to believe." Emily paused, and could feel her heart beating in her throat.

"You've got this," JJ whispered so that just she could hear it.

"That's how I felt." Emily finally continued. "My dad had been threatening me since I was eight. He was a powerful man as many of you know, and I believed he could get me killed. Because of this I never told anyone that he had been abusing me. I kept it to myself, and all that did was hurt me further." Emily's voice started to shake audibly and JJ took over for her.

"In a situation like this it can seem best to keep it to yourself, but many times something can happen to change the situation from bad to deadly. But I can tell you that it is better to tell someone. It can help save your life. And if you suspect this is happening to someone else, don't sit around and wait for it to get worse." JJ turned and looked at Emily. "I'm sorry I did that."

Emily and JJ finished their speech in front of the class and got a loud clapping in return. Emily could feel her legs shaking now, and she knew soon enough she wouldn't be able to stand at all.

"I am so proud of you girls," Ms. Young said to them. "Emily, I had no idea…"

"It's okay. No one did." Emily then turned to look at JJ. "You have nothing to be sorry about."

JJ quickly squeezed Emily's hands.

"And by the way, you ever think about having a career in the media? You really got this whole thing down. Your professional, you don't shake, and well," Emily lowered her voice, "you're pretty damn cute."

JJ laughed and flashed a smile in her direction. "You're pretty beautiful yourself."

Emily just looked down at the ground and continued to her seat, but JJ stopped her. She moved Emily to the back of the room so that they wouldn't be heard. Softly she took Emily's chin and tilted it so that she was looking at her.

"All joking aside Em, you are beautiful. I don't know what you've heard before, but you are beautiful, and gorgeous, and perfect. And you deserve the best in this world. You don't deserve the past you have, but now that makes you who you are. You're strong, compassionate, and beautiful," JJ said fiercely. "I love you for who you are, and that will never change."

Emily let out a sigh and gripped her hands around JJ's and smiled. She hoped that this was going somewhere, prayed even. But she did know one thing. JJ wasn't going to hurt her. Not like others had in her past. She could tell that JJ wasn't going to use her and leave her out like trash. For once in her life she felt like there was someone she could trust. And she wasn't about to let that someone go.

**Once again, you guys have all been great!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here it is, the last chapter! I appreciate all of the support I have gotten from you guys, it has meant so much to me. At the begining I was worried to post this story, but now I am really glad that I did. And remember leaving a review is the greatest thing to recieve as an author :)**

**I do not own Criminal Minds**

Emily sat in the Jareau's living room playing Scattegories. Her mother was in some country doing something, and they had invited her over. Around the room each of them frantically tried to find words that started with R to fill in for each category. By the time they got around to reading the answers, none of them could keep a straight face.

"Okay," Mr. Jareau started, "What does everyone have for 'Something you find in a kitchen'?"

"Roaster," JJ said, "You know, the thing that you roast things in." A smile spread across her face, because she knew she would get away with her answer.

"Rice," Her mom said.

"That's what I got!" Her dad exclaimed and they both crossed off their word.

The other three turned their glances to Emily and waited for her to read her own answer.

"Rats."

Suddenly all four of them broke out into laughter.

"Don't tell anyone this Emily," Mr. Jareau said, "but that's sometimes accurate in our house."

"Only in the winter when _someone_," Mrs. Jareau shot a glance to JJ, "leaves food in the basement."

JJ looked around sheepishly and started laughing. Then she rolled the dice and they continued on with the letter M.

JJ slipped her hand into Emily's and held it for the continuation of the game.

After the game was over they went up the JJ's room and sat on top of her bed. Emily looked around to a room that had once been so foreign to her, but was now like a second home. The last month had been pure hell, through her father's trial, but JJ had stuck by her the entire time.

Emily shuddered just thinking about how she had had to go on the stand during the trial. She was forced to recount what he had done with her since she was 8. And to do so in front of an entire jury. Thankfully it had been a closed trial, mostly for the sake of her and her mother. But JJ had been there with a parent on each side.

JJ had also testified during the trial. She talked about the day she went to go see Emily, but conveniently left the part about the pills out. There had been no reason to say anything about them. Instead, she talked about how he had hurt both of them and threatened them.

But despite all of that Emily was thankful. Her father was now in prison. 20 to life. No high- priced lawyer could get him out of it. The jury had no sympathy for him, nor did anyone else.

When Emily saw her Father's face as he left the courtroom she couldn't quite figure out the feelings she had. Sure she was mad. She was mad as hell. He had taken parts of her that weren't his. Parts she wouldn't be able to give to the one she loved. But more than anything else he had taken her hope, and her trust. Those were gone until JJ came into her life and put them back.

Yet another feeling she had was pity. From here he didn't look like the strong man that had scared her all of her life. He looked like what he truly was. A coward. A man who had targeted his 8 year old daughter.

"What're you thinking about Em?" JJ asked examining her face.

"My father," She said before thinking.

JJ's eyes turned soft as she turned to face Emily.

"It's nothing." Emily quickly added, not wanting JJ to worry about her.

"I'm not sure I believe you."

"What?" Emily asked surprised.

"You heard what I said. Ever since the hospital and the trial you haven't talked to me about anything," JJ explained.

"You heard everything at the trial." Emily looked down. It was the truth. JJ had heard everything. Now she knew everything her dad had done to her.

They sat in silence for a moment before JJ responded. "And you think that makes me think of you differently? You think that makes me love you less?"

"How could it not?" Emily spat out. "You know what he did to me now! You know that he…" She let those words hang in the air.

"And that means absolutely nothing to me." JJ replied firmly. "You know what I care about Emily?" She didn't wait for a response before continuing. "I care about you and that's all I've ever cared about!"

Emily could feel tears welling in her eyes.

"And Emily I don't want you to ever leave my life. I can't let you…"

"I won't." Emily answered the word JJ was unable to say.

JJ reached her hand up and rested it gently on Emily's cheek. "I hate that you went through what you did. And you need to know that what he did… what your dad did… that wasn't love. That's not what love is like. And if you let me, I want to be with you, and help you learn what love is really about. It's about you and me, Em."

By now tears had slipped down Emily's cheeks. She couldn't muster up any words and finally just nodded.

JJ moved closer to Emily and placed her soft lips onto Emily's. She held her close as they kissed, hoping that Emily was feeling the same way that she did right now. JJ wrapped her arms around Emily and pulled her tightly into a hug.

When they finally pulled apart JJ took her hand and wiped the tears off of Emily's cheeks. She so desperately wanted to pull Emily close to her and kiss her again, but on the other hand she also knew they had to take this slow. If she wanted them to have a relationship, if she wanted to show Emily _true _love, it would take time. And that was something she was willing to do.

Because Emily was worth it.

XXX

Eventually Emily pulled out the trundle bed from under JJ's bed and JJ turned off the lights.

"Goodnight," JJ said softly as she got into her own bed.

"Goodnight." Emily returned. Then suddenly she saw JJ lean her head over the side of her bed. Her long blonde hair hung at its sides. JJ kissed her again and then smiled.

"Now we can say goodnight."

"I really do love you JJ." Emily smiled. She closed her eyes, and for the first time in her life she wasn't scared as she lay in bed. She wasn't waiting for her father to come and steal a part of her, and she wasn't there praying it hadn't just happened. For once she knew everything would be okay, because JJ was there. And for once Emily felt a feeling she had never felt before.

Love.


End file.
